


Baby Steps

by Fallen_Ark_Angel



Series: Baby Steps [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-07 23:38:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4282356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallen_Ark_Angel/pseuds/Fallen_Ark_Angel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some people are meant to be parents. And some people are Gajeel. Err, well, one person is Gajeel. But at least he's trying!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Never once did Gajeel think that he would have a daughter. When the shrimp first told him that she was pregnant, he just automatically assumed it would be a son. And, while he wasn't exactly thrilled, he had to admit that any boy would be lucky to be the protégé of Black Steel himself.

So, when the time came and it turned out to actually be a, well, girl, Gajeel was more than a little…shocked.

As it turned out though, it didn't matter what the baby was. Because, as he came to realize, all babies were the same at first. Just a never-ending cycle of tears and diapers. He just left most of it to the shrimp to deal with, instead taking long jobs, falling back on the excuse that, well, technically, one of them had to. And clearly, it wasn't going to be her.

Levy wasn't stupid, of course, and caught on quickly enough. She clearly didn't like the idea of him purposely avoiding the child, but there was little she could do. Every time she brought it up to him, he'd only snort and blow her off. The kid wasn't going anywhere, after all.

And he didn't…hate the baby or nothing. Gajeel, if anything, was very possessive. If something was his, no one else was allowed to touch it! And the baby very much so was his. He didn't want no one around her that wasn't ran by him first. She was his. No one else's.

Other than, like, Levy's. And Lily was pretty fond of the baby. When she wasn't screaming her lungs out. But Gajeel figured no one rather liked those moments much.

The thing about him never being around though was that he and the baby never, as Levy said, bonded. At all. It got to the point where she didn't even like for him to hold her when he was around. Which, really, wasn't a loss for Gajeel. He'd never rather liked that anyhow. What if she, like, spit up on him or something?

So no, he wasn't too remiss to find that the baby didn't like him. It wasn't a blow to his ego or nothing. She was just a silly, little human who, he'd like to point out, he kept a roof over and clothes on. As far as he was concerned, he basically was doing all he should be for her as a father. He'd even bit the bullet and married the shrimp. How much more could the baby want from him?

That was how he felt too, right up through the baby's first year. She wasn't fond of him as much as she was more or less just used to him being around then. He felt about the same. Though, she did become of interest to him eventually. It was around that time, after all, that she began to learn things. Other than, like, how to sit up or crawl. Those were boring to him. Levy was excited, but, meh. And talking? His damn cat could talk. You'd have to do a little better to impress Gajeel.

It came on one of the days that he wasn't out training, on a job, or up at the guild. Levy had taken a job of her own, the first real one in a long time, and would be gone for at least two days. She was leaving the baby in the trusted care of her father and Uncle Lily. Gajeel wasn't so sure about it, but she insisted. And, well, he didn't rather like the idea, fine, but he knew the baby would be safe. He'd never harm her or anything. He just didn't like to take care of her.

So, when Levy left the morning with Droy and Jet, Gajeel was glad to find that the baby was still sleepy. And though Levy had warned him against breaking her routine, what could he do? She was yawning and just looked so tired and…he'd spent the night before drinking…so… More sleep sounded about right for all of them. Lily too.

It was probably noon when they got up and that was only 'cause the baby was hungry. Gajeel was glad that she'd gotten out of the formula phase, if only because he hated her scent, all intermingled with milk and stuff. Solids though weren't exactly great either. They were messy. And tedious. But Levy's rules…

He'd fed her before and knew the drill. Set her up in her high chair, feed her some disgusting looking mush, have her whine and complain some, then put Lily on clean up duty. They were a team, after all.

"Here ya go," the man grumbled as he held a spoon up to the baby's lips. She was just staring at him though, their red irises locking. He could tell that she really wanted Levy, but, well, tough luck. He wanted her too. "Gaia."

"Perhaps she does not like the food," Lily suggested as the baby turned her head from the spoon, whining slightly. He was standing over on the table, chowing down on some kiwis.

"Of course she doesn't like it," Gajeel growled. "It's mashed up…whatever! Why would she like it? It's not made to be liked. She doesn't know what it means to like something anyhow. And look. I got her some little pieces of toast too. And some-"

"Maybe she wants a bottle."

"She got a bottle for breakfast before Levy left," Gajeel said. "Now she has to eat this stuff. So she needs to get over it."

It took some doing, some whining, and some grumbling, but eventually Gajeel got enough food in her. Then, after washing her up some, he took her into the living room to play.

"Here." He sat her on the floor with some of her toys. She had plenty of them. Though he never seemed overly attached to his daughter, he never came home from a job without something for her. Above all else, she was always his kid.

Lily had taken off for the guild after getting her all clean again and Gajeel was alone. Nothing to do. Levy said that he could take the baby over to Lucy to play with her son, but there was no way that was happening. Because for all the Lucy that boy had in him, he also had way too much Natsu. And Gajeel wanted to keep Gaia far away from him for as long as possible.

Not to mention, while Lucy wasn't horrible to see, it wasn't like he ever went out of his way to do it either…

No. The baby was fine playing all alone. And he would be there too, watching over her, so they'd be fine for two days.

Across the living room, Gajeel went to work on his, well, work out. There wasn't much he could do, but he did start out with some pushups. If he had to be with the baby all day for the next few days, fine, but he wasn't going to be miserable the whole time either.

While he was busy with that though, the baby apparently got bored over with her toys and crawled over to him. She came to a stop right in front of him too, just sitting there, staring at the man.

"What?" he grumbled as she stared at him, one of her hands in her mouth. Gross. "Go away. Go back over there and play. I'm busy."

She started making noises at him then. She only really knew one word. Mama. Levy'd hammered it home enough to her. At that moment, she kept repeating it, apparently not happy with being left with him.

Growling, he just kept it up with his pushups. If she wanted Levy, well, too bad. It was his next two days with her and she was just going to have to deal with it.

But it was kind of hard to concentrate then. And, eventually, with a groan, he dropped back down and didn't push up again.

"You," he grumbled at her as he reached out to pat her on the head, "are annoying me."

That was probably the only amount of affection that he ever really gave her. He'd stroke the top of her head sometimes, usually when he first got home from a job or was leaving on one. She never seemed to mind it much.

Dropping his hand then, he rolled onto his back, pulling up his knees so he could start doing some sit ups. The baby was behind his head then and, bored, took to crawling away.

"Don't go far," he grumbled over at her. Silly baby.

She was fine for most of the day. Gajeel eventually went off to make himself something to eat, making her come play in the kitchen while he did that. Lily still wasn't back though and he was getting rather bored all alone. Which was stupid, he knew. He used to love being alone. He was always alone. He preferred it that way. But…recently…

When he had his sandwiches made, he took Gaia back with him into the living room, where he sat her back with her toys before going over to the couch to eat.

"What are you doin', kid?" he grumbled as, while he was enjoying his sandwich (though not as much as when Levy made it for him), the baby started to crawl towards him. "No. You can't have any. Go away. This is mine. I already fed ya!"

She stopped about halfway though, and when she started to reach up and grab at that coffee table, he groaned.

"No," he told her, setting his sandwich down next to him on the couch with a shake of his head. "You're gonna hurt yourself or- Hey, you can't do that! No!"

She started pulling herself up then and, well, he couldn't let that happen. Levy worked with her all the time on that sort of stuff. It was real important to the woman. Seeing the baby's first steps and stuff. She was getting better at walking, but it hadn't happened yet. And Gajeel didn't want it happening then either!

But when he moved to grab the baby, she let go of the table and, for a second, he feared that she'd fall over and hit her head or something. His breath caught in a way he never expected it to then as he didn't touch her, fearful of knocking her over on accident. Just like that though, she found her own balance and, giggling in that way that only she could, the baby started walking towards him.

No! She was supposed to do that for Levy. So that she could have another one of those stupid moments were she got all happy and excited over the baby doing something that most every single human ever has done. She wasn't supposed to do it for him! He didn't care. He didn't…he…well… Ugh.

She about fell too, when she finally got to him, but Gajeel easily caught her, lifting the baby into his arms a groan while he was at it.

"Why did you do that?" he asked her as the baby just giggled. "This was a you and your mom thing. Not a me and you thing. We can't tell her about this, you know. She'll be all disappointed."

But when he sat the baby down again, she just pushed right back up and tried walking some more. That time, she fell back on her butt before he could catch her, but she was giggling and clapping her hands, clearly excited.

He just stared down at her. "What? You think that's impressive, huh? Walking? What's so impressive about that?"

But he couldn't stop her. She kept trying to get up and walk. Even though she fell down rather quickly, he did admire, if only a little, her determination. If you could call it that.

"Fine," he gave in eventually, reaching down to grab her hands and help her along a little. "I'll help you learn to walk. But we can't tell the shrimp about this. It's a secret, huh? She'll come back, think she taught it to you, and we'll just go on with life."

Gajeel had to admit though that it was a little fun, teaching the baby something new. When he dropped his gruff tone and tried to sound a tad happy for her, it just made the baby that much more excited. It got to the point where every step she took, she'd fall right back down because she'd start giggling when he congratulated her. They must have worked on it forever, it felt like. Until the baby got sleepy again and, well, schedule be damned, he went to lay her down in her crib.

That was Levy's deal, anyhow. The whole doing the same thing every day to keep the baby regulated or whatever. Bah! He figured that you only got a chance to do whatever you wanted for a few precious years. Let the kid have them. She wanted to sleep? Let her sleep. Wanna eat? Eat! Why not?

She didn't nap for long. Eventually she woke up and, well, Gajeel would never admit it, but he kinda wanted to give that walking thing a whirl again. It was weird, but he had sorta been having fun with the baby when they were doing it. Which hadn't happened before. She was more like an object to him, one that he protected and kept safe, fine, but one that had no other purpose than keeping the shrimp happy. And gave Lily something to do sometimes. But Gajeel? Gajeel didn't play with the baby. He hardly even spent time with her. They liked it better that way, he and Gaia.

At least that's what he convinced himself of.

But teaching her to walk was something else. He kept telling himself that they needed to stop. That he wasn't supposed to care that much. Levy was the one that was going to teach her. She wanted to be the one. He wanted her to be the one. But…

Gaia was his baby too! And Levy could teach her everything else. How to talk, potty train her, and whatever else. He decided about then that he wanted to be the one to teach her to walk. It was something that she'd obviously use forever and that made it important. And she seemed to like it so much. What did Levy expect them to do for two days anyhow?

He spent a lot of time then, sitting on the living room floor, motioning the baby to walk over to him. She got better and better. She was a super good learner. He figured that she was way smarter than the Salamander's kid (he really didn't like that boy). She was probably the smartest baby ever. He wasn't sure, but he just had a feeling.

"You sure are more enthused than I expected," Lily remarked once, when he saw Gajeel clapping along with the baby at her accomplishment. She liked clapping and, well, if it helped her along, then he liked doing it. "For someone that did not even want to be left alone wit her for so long."

"Yeah, well."

"Gee hee," the cat snickered making the baby look up at him. "You finally feeling fatherly, Gajeel?"

"Get outta here, cat! We're busy."

But even his dead tone couldn't give away the fact that he was enjoying himself. It was written all over his face, no matter how hard he tried to conceal it. He and the baby had at last found something to do together. In fact, when Levy finally did arrive home, he wasn't really ready for it. He liked taking care of his baby. And he was sure she liked his non-schedule more than Levy's strict one. But what could you do?

"Anything fun happen while I was on my job?" Levy asked him not soon after she got home. It was late into the second day then and the baby was already sleeping. Gajeel had figured that when she arrived, he'd go straight down to the guildhall to have a few beers with Lily, but the shrimp wanted to tell him about her job and how could he turn her down?

"Meh," he said with a shrug as they sat on the couch together. "Lily ditched me a bunch, but that's about it."

"Oh. The baby was okay?"

There was a pause. Then he said, "She really seemed to wanna learn to walk. She kept trying to stand up and stuff."

"Awe."

"I helped her a little." He cleared his throat. "You know. Held her hands and walked her around. Let her come to me. Stuff like-"

"Really?'

"Don't sound so shocked, Levy," he grumbled. "I mean, she is my kid too."

"I know," Levy said with a smile. "I just know that sometimes you don't like to-"

"It wasn't anything serous," he told her gruffly. "I was just passing down my knowledge."

"Right. On walking."

"Shrimp-"

"Then you had a fun few days?"

"I've had better."

"Gajeel."

"What? It's true."

Levy batted at his arm and he grinned at her, if only slightly. It was good to have her home.

Still, before Gajeel left for the guildhall later, he popped into the baby's room to check on her. She was sleeping just as peacefully as ever as he went to the side of the crib and peered over at her. Reaching out, he gently stroked some of her dark locks, being sure not to wake her.

Maybe Levy would go out on more jobs soon. And maybe he could find new things to teach the baby. He had many skills that needed to be passed down, after all. And if it was as much fun as teaching her to walk had been, he couldn't wait to get started.

 


	2. Chapter 2

  


Levy seemed to take the whole teaching the baby to walk thing way too far. She thought that it meant that the two of them had bonded (gag) and wanted them to spend even more alone time together because that would just get them to love one another even more!

Gah! The shrimp had to have some of the worst ideas ever. For one, Gajeel was not a babysitter. At all. And fine, he knew how to watch the baby and, if Levy wanted to go on a job, he could watch the baby, it didn't mean that he should watch her. He knew how to give CPR, but he sure hoped someone else around did too if someone was choking.

"Levy," he complained as she left one morning after feeding the baby breakfast. "Don't leave me! Hey! I'm talking to you. Shrimp-"

She just went right out the front door, giggling and all. As if there was something remotely funny about leaving him there. Right. Sure. Growling, he glanced back over at his daughter who was happily playing with Lily on the floor of the living room.

"I think we're stuck," Lily said, looking back at him. "Gajeel."

"Stupid woman," he growled, heading over to the couch. "I was going to train today."

"You may," he said. "I will stay here with-"

"No," he groaned. "Levy wants me to stay here with the baby. If she finds out that I left too, she'll be all mad at me and stuff. It's not worth it."

Then the baby had to start making those loud annoying noises she did when she was having fun. With a growl, Gajeel got up and headed out of the room. If Levy wanted him to stay home with the kid, fine, but that didn't mean that he had to be the one to deal with her.

And Lily was more than fine with watching the baby for awhile. He really did like it. Sometimes living with Levy and Gajeel could become a tad monotonous. In the past year, at least things had gotten switched up a little.

It was while he was busy playing with her though that he heard voices out on the porch and then a knock at it. No way Gajeel would bother opening it (as he put it, the shrimp had a key, the baby was always in the house, and the cat could find his own way in, so who the hell else did he care enough about to open the door? No one) so that left Pantherlily to get it.

"Happy," he greeted. "And Natsu. And-"

"No," they all heard before Lily could announce the arrival of the Salamander's son as well, who was riding up on his father's shoulders, the three year old smiling down at the cat. From further in the house though, Gajeel was already complaining. "No way. Turn right around. You are not coming in."

"Ah! Gajeel!" Natsu fist pumped. "I wanted to know if you wanted to-"

"How many times," he growled, "do I have to say it? We're not friends!"

"He wants to train," Happy said as he punched the air. "Fight. The two of you. Come on!"

"No," Gajeel growled. "I am not going anywhere with you two. I-"

"Gajeel is on babysitting duty," Lily told them. Natsu was still grinning.

"Me too," he said as his son giggled. "You can take the baby with us. Or I know! She can fight my boy here and-"

"Get out," the other slayer growled. "Before I toss ya out!"

"I'm not in your house."

"Then get off my porch. Now!"

"Uh, Natsu," Happy whispered as his wings appeared and he took to the air once more. "I think this was a bad idea. Come on. Let's go bother Laxus or-"

"No way! I got all the way here. Someone's gonna train with me!"

"No one invited you over!" Gajeel challenged. Lily though just sighed.

"I will go and train with you, Natsu," he offered. "Allow me to go get my sword. I was hoping to today anyhow."

"Me and you train together, huh?" He thought about it. "Alright. If you're sure you don't wanna fight some, Gajeel."

"I don't," he told him, tone still harsh. "And don't come crying to me when my cat slices ya in half."

"Well, I'd be dead then," Natsu told him, slightly confused. "So I don't see-"

"Stop arguin' with me!"

It wasn't until Lily had left that Gajeel realized he'd tricked him. Now he was the one stuck with the baby while Pantherlily go to go out and have fun (as much fun as one could have with the Salamander, anyhow). Gah!

"Well, I hope you're happy," he grumbled to Gaia as he went to sit down on the couch. She was, actually. Very happy. She thought that they were going to have guests, which she loved, but no such luck. It was just her and her father. "You just llost y our playmate. And I sure ain't replacin' him."

He got bored of watching her easily and, rather quickly, he decided that if she got to play with her toys, he deserved a chance to do something as well.

"Don't worry," he told the baby as he drug his amp into the living room, guitar with him. "I won't have it up too loud. Your precious hearing's safe, huh?"

Recently, Gajeel felt like he didn't get enough time to hone his craft. The baby was always sleeping or the shrimp had a headache or, as Lily put it, he just wasn't getting any better and should give up sooner rather than later. Bah! Naysayers. All of them. He was improving. He just knew that he was.

And the baby didn't seem to mind his music much. He was afraid that it would make her cry or something, which would mean he had to put an immediate end to it. The noises seemed to interest her though and, eventually, she pushed up and, all on her own, toddled over to where he was sitting on the couch, strumming away on his axe.

"You hear that, baby?" he asked her as she toppled over by the couch. She was okay, of course, and just sat back on her butt, staring up at him. "This is music. Don't listen to the others! I make the best music around. I play the blues, yeah? That's what they don't get. I'm hurtin' inside and they just make fun of it!"

The baby made a few noises back at him, still just watching the man. He nodded.

"You should see me decked out in my gear," he went on as he stopped strumming and stared at her. "I- Hey! Why are you cryin'?"

He'd never had that happen before. Most people cried when he was playing.

"Alright, alright," he groaned, picking then at the guitar. "Don't be such a, well, baby about it."

That got her quiet again. For a bit. Then she started making noises too.

"See?" He kept up his playing. The baby got it. "It ain't so bad, is it?"

Nope.

If teaching her to walk was fun, having someone that sympathized with him was even better. Clearly, if a baby could see the genius and artistry in his playing, then the others should see it too.

Eventually, of course, the baby got more interested in crawling back over to her toys, but she did frequently look back over at him, giggling and making noises along with him.

"If I'd known that you liked it so much," he mumbled to her at one point, "I wouldn't have been so averse to practicing when you were in the house."

As if he needed another reason to be certain that she was his daughter. The kid clearly had great taste. Clearly.

When Levy got home though, she was less than enthused by what she saw. Mainly because, by that point, the baby wasn't even paying him any mind (he'd been practicing for over an hour and long exhausted her interest) and all she could think about was how valuable the baby's hearing was and how he was potentially ruining it.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled as she took to complaining, not soon after she entered. He didn't even fight her on it. After all, with her home, he could finally go down to the guildhall and get out of that dang house. The baby was the best fan he had, fine, but with her mother around, he didn't need to be. He could have far more fun up at the guild.

Still though, it wasn't lost on him how great it was to finally have someone like his music. Even if it was just a baby, whose likes included drooling, grabbing her feet, and making loud noises. It was still a supporter and that was all that mattered.

He didn't tell anyone about it, but he didn't forget about it either. In fact, since Levy had made it so obvious that she didn't like him playing his electric guitar around the baby, he found a compromise (and they all think he 's a horrible husband). He bought an acoustic.

It was a cheap thing that he bought out in the market that could hold a tune well enough. He didn't even mention that he'd bought it to Levy or the cat. Just did, shoved it in a closet in the house, and sorta forgot about it.

Until, once more, home from a job, Levy sprung on him that he was babysitting. Either that or she could take Gaia over to Lucy's for a play date with her son. Which wasn't happening.

She was a tricky one, his shrimp was.

Once again, the cat was out, up at the guild, no doubt having a good time, and Gajeel was stuck with the baby. Levy suggested that, since he liked teaching her to walk so much (gag), that he take a crack and helping her learn to talk. Levy was working on that a lot and, well, some help was appreciated. And she knew that he clearly enjoyed spending time with her. Clearly.

Ha. No. Gajeel was not a teacher. Not really. Didn't even enjoy it. And, when he found it to just be him and the baby in the house, he remembered that acoustic that he'd bought a few weeks back. Perfect.

"Here you go," he said, dropping her on the bed in the master bedroom before sitting up there with her. He'd already placed a few of her toys up there, to keep her preoccupied, and had his acoustic resting against the side of the bed, which he picked up quickly.

"Alright, baby," he told her as she immediately took to chewing on one of her soft toys that were up there. "You ready to be wowed? Huh?"

Not particularly. But when he started playing, well, she sure liked that. It almost made her forget that she really, really wanted Lily or her mother there to play with.

Almost.

But...Gajeel was alright. He was a lot less gruff recently. He really liked it too when she'd walk over to him and, if no one was around, would clap for her. It was kind of their thing.

Like the guitar stuff, apparently.

She liked the acoustic as much as the electric, it seemed, and if it really was better for her ears, so be it. He didn't want her hearing damaged over something so simply, after all.

He even came up with a song for her, he was that good of a guitarist. Not to sound like a boaster, but he was nearly certain that he was better than even Mirajane. The others just favored her because she was a woman. Obviously. And his daughter could see that.

It was a lot less fun though, playing on an acoustic, and he found that the strings weren't exactly to his liking. He was just used to electric ones, after all. Not that his daughter cared. She just made noises right along with him. Singing, almost. He thought that he'd find that annoying, but for some reason, he actually liked it. A lot. Even if it was just gibberish and nonsensical.

If Levy was around to see it, she'd say that they finally found something to bond over. And maybe they had. Maybe. It wasn't like it made much of a difference. If she just so happened to like his music, well, that made it great. But nothing for the shrimp to fawn over. So he definitely wasn't telling her about it.

Eventually though, he got tired of playing and just moved to lay out on the bed, the baby crawling up it so that she could lay at his side.

"What?" he grumbled. "Gaia?"

When he was younger, he used to love having red eyes. It made him look more ferocious. On his daughter though, they looked anything but.

Lifting one of his hands, he rested it atop her head, stroking the thick, course locks gently. She was so sensitive about her hair. Like when Levy tried to comb it out. She never seemed to like it much. He figured she never would.

"I'mma be going on a job soon," he told her, shockingly not feeling as foolish as he would have thought. "So you'll have to put up with others for awhile. And go without my music. Both of which suck. Trust me, I wouldn't trade places with you." Then, lifting his head slightly, he stared at her for a moment before adding, "But you got it pretty cushy, you know. And you're lucky. If I had myself as a father, I would be thankful every day. Because I'm awesome. Breathtaking. Awe-inspiring. Get it?"

More head pats. At that point, she was more than used to them.

He had the baby down for her nap when Levy got back and hidden away his acoustic again. He hoped that the shrimp never found it. Or the cat either. He liked 'em both more than normal people, but man did they like to tease him. In Lily's case. Levy was much more of a gusher. She'd brag on him and fawn over him and talk about how much he was coming to love the baby and all these stupid things that he just didn't want to put up with.

Or worse; she'd tell the others, up at the guild.

Nope. He was fine, just as he was. And so was the baby. Why fix what wasn't broken?

"Lily sure is doing a lot without you recently," Levy remarked once. But he only glared at her until she giggled.

"It's your fault," he grumbled. "You're the one that's bogging down my day with this baby stuff."

"She's your daughter too."

"And when she gets interestin', I'll spend time with her, huh?"

Or just secretly keep playing guitar for her, since, apparently, she was the only one that understood him and got just how talented he truly was.

Yeah, he'd probably go with the last one.

 


	3. Chapter 3

  


He didn't even know about it until he got back into town. And, honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that Mirajane knew everything about everyone, he probably would have stayed up at the guildhall, drinking until close, and not gotten home until much later. But as he lucked out, Mira was a very so was a busybody. And there was nothing more that she liked than to spread the gossip she overheard.

"It's just so sad, you know?" Mira asked as she delivered a beer to the table he and his Exceed were sharing. Neither was listening to her much, as she had a habit of rambling, but that didn't stop her from speaking. "That Gaia is sick? I mean, I would hate to have a sick baby at home. Levy must be swamped. Although, if you're up here, instead of at home with her, then-"

"What?" Gajeel, who was about to pick up his beer, slammed the mug right back down. "What are you talking about?"

"Gaia. Your baby?" Mira was being called over to the Thunder Legion table then and, as easily distracted as ever, said, "She had a fever or something, right? I thought that was what Levy said, but maybe I'm wrong. Not that I am very often, but- Okay! Calm down, Bickslow. I'm coming."

Gajeel didn't even down his beer. Just tossed some jewels on the table before standing up. The baby was sick, huh? You'd think that he'd have some sort of sixth sense about it or something.

"You coming, cat?"

Lily nodded, forming his wings before taking to the air. "I'm sure that it's nothing serious, of course."

"Of course," the man mumbled, though just the thought of the baby running a fever had him on edge. What accompanied fevers? Were they serious? Arg! Just so much stuff that he didn't know.

And things didn't get much better when they got home for him to find her crying and practically inconsolable. Levy was up with her, of course, and was clearly glad to see them. Even smiled when they came into the baby's room. Smiled. As if nothing was wrong. Right.

"Hey, guys," she greeted as they came in, Lily fluttering over to stare at the baby. "Back so soon?"

"What's wrong with the child?" Gajeel grumbled. "Mirajane said that she was sick or something?"

"Just has a fever."

"She's not dying, is she?"

Frowning, Levy said, "Is that really the first place that your mind went, Gajeel? Honestly?"

"Well."

With a sigh, the woman took to bouncing the baby some more. "I just can't get her to calm down is all, really."

"She is rather loud," Lily agreed as, when his wings disappeared, he landed gracefully on his feet. "But everyone must get sick eventually, yes?"

No. Gajeel just kept watching the baby and the way she had her face all scrunched up.

"Here," Levy said then, moving to pass her off to her father. "I need to go- Gajeel."

"No way," he said, dodging her. "She's all snotty and sobbing and-"

"Are you serious?"

Very. He was, underneath his veneer, concerned for his daughter, but was not going to get himself all gross just for her.

"Hold on," he grumbled, turning then to walk from the room.

"Where are you going? Gajeel-"

"I'll be right back," he told her. "I just need to get something."

"What? Gajeel!"

But he only headed off to go fetch his acoustic guitar. If the baby wasn't happy, well, he'd make her that way!

For his own sanity, of course. He couldn't stand the sound of wailing, after all. He was just trying to fix things for himself. Duh. Not for some other silly reason that he knew Levy would think up. No way.

"What is that?" Pantherlily asked as the man came back into the room, guitar in hand.

"My acoustic, idiot," he grumbled, frowning at both of them in preparation for the ribbing he was about to get. "The hell does it look like?"

"We know what it is, Gajeel," Levy said with a frown. "We were more concerned about where it came from."

"I bought it, of course."

"Of course," his cat mumbled.

"When though?" Then his wife thought of a better question. "And why did you go get it?"

"Because," he grumbled as he slung the strap over his shoulder. "It's gonna calm the baby down."

"Uh, no," the woman said, trying hard to keep a smile on her face. "That's okay. Really, Gajeel, she's fine."

"Clearly," he grumbled. "She's not."

"And you think," Lily asked slowly, "that your…guitar play will help?"

Neither he nor Levy could keep a straight face at that one. And, with a growl, Gajeel told them, "Me and her have a thing. A…a…bond, Levy. Over music. My music."

"Right," she said slowly. "The baby likes out of tune, horrible, and loud music. Okay. Makes sense."

"It's true! She enjoys me playing the guitar for her. She, unlike you two, appreciates me."

"We appreciate you, Gajeel," Lily was quick to tell him. "Just not…your musical abilities."

"Or," his wife added, "lack there of."

"Just shut up. Both of ya," he grumbled before looking to his baby again. She was still just as upset as ever. "And watch this."

It took a minute or two, actually, and in that minute, Levy gave him this still skeptical look while Pantherlily debated whether or not it was rude to reach up to cover his ears. Rude won out, but that didn't stop him from wanting to.

And, when the baby stopped, it seemed at first less like enjoyment and more like she was confused by the sound. And then, when Gajeel started that horrible singing of his, Levy about put a stop to it. It was, after all, truly the worst 'skill' that he had. But, just before she could, it happened.

The baby giggled, moving in her mother's arms to look over at him. And Gajeel was just as serious about his playing as always, revolting as it was, and took little notice of this. But both Lily and Levy did, the former glancing up at the baby in shock. She kept giggling too, her tearstained face turning into a grin as she watched her father.

When he finished the song though, he just stopped playing and glanced over at the three of them, face as serious as ever.

"See?" he complained. "I-"

"Gajeel," Levy groaned as the baby started sniffling again, almost immediately. "I will never tell you this again, so soak it up. Please play another song."

"Fine," he grumbled as he started strumming again. "But not because you asked me to!"

Even Lily stuck around to listen to the, well, technically it was music, but no one other than Gajeel would ever call it that. Gaia too, apparently.

He played her to sleep that night, as it was the only way to keep her from crying. Levy had never been happier for her husband's perceived musical abilities and figured she never would be again.

"It is almost too quiet," Lily remarked as they all left the baby to sleep in her room. "Without all that noise."

"It's ain't noise, cat," Gajeel grumbled. "It's music."

"So," Levy prompted as they just followed the man as he went to put his guitar away. "When were you gonna tell us?"

"Tell you what?" He still wasn't happy with the two of them. "Huh, shrimp?"

"About how," she began, but had to stop to giggle, "you and the baby have this little connection?"

"It ain't a connection," he told them both harshly. "It's just me, a very talented musician, practicing while my daughter, who clearly has a keen ear for it, listens. That's it."

"You went out and bought a new guitar," Lily remarked with his own grin and teasing tone. "Must be serious."

"I needed an acoustic," he told them both with a slight snarl. "So just drop it."

"It was so cute," Levy went on as Lily finally did let a snicker loose. "Watching you play for her. I think-"

"You don't know nothing," he told them both with a frown. "What? A man can't broaden his horizons? Huh? Can't be a hardcore blues player and an acoustic master?"

"I still don't see how that sentence has anything to do with you," Lily told him as Levy started giggling too.

Growling some more, he stalked away. Stupid shrimp. Stupid cat. He knew that letting them know would ruin everything. But what could he do? The baby clearly needed him to lull her off to sleep.

Not that that was why he did that! No way. He just…well he…

Ugh. Becoming a father was worse than originally planned.

Still though, now that the secret was out, he didn't have to wait around for him and the baby to be the only ones home. He could play for her whenever he wanted. And, the next morning, when she woke up a tad whiny, he just sat her down on her bedroom floor with some toys before getting down there with her.

"Go away, Levy," he grumbled as he strummed idly, just enough to keep the baby happy. She was for the moment, just sitting there staring at him as some snot ran down her face. Not that he was reaching over there to wipe it for her. Gross. She could figure that stuff out on her own. He was the entertainment and that was all. "If you're just going to bother us."

"I'm not bothering you," she reasoned as she stood there, staring in at them. "At all."

'Yes," he retorted. "You are."

"How, Gajeel?"

"You're here to tease me and-"

"Is that what you think? Huh?"

"It's what you and the cat were doing last night," he accused. "You-"

"We were laughing at how cute it was, Gajeel. And the fact that she actually likes this…music." Again, it was a reach, but hey. The baby was young. She'd learn. "But not that you were spending time with her or anything like that. We're not making fun of you or something."

"Like I would care if you were," he said, trying to sound as insolent as possible.

"Gajeel, it's not like it's something to be ashamed of anyhow," his wife reasoned. "That you and the baby both have something in common. What? Do you think that it'll make you weak? Huh? To actually enjoy being around your daughter?"

With a frown, he moved to set his guitar to the side and get to his feet, much to the annoyance of Gaia who took up whining almost immediately.

"Gajeel, honestly?" Levy made a face at him as he tried to leave the room. "You're such a baby about things."

That got him to stop, though it was just to glare at her. "What?"

"You heard me," she said as she went to go lift up their daughter. "You're always so convinced that everyone's against you or is talking behind your back that you won't even let your guard down at home. Around us. Me and Lily love you."

"Shrimp-"

"And it's just stupid that you're going to stop playing with her because you think that we're teasing you or something. Which, by the way, we're not. Lily isn't even here! And-"

"Don't feel so high and might. I didn't stop because of you," he grumbled. Then, suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "I sensed them coming."

"Who?" she asked, but he just grunted before heading off to answer the door. Levy was quick to follow, her daughter still whining from her arms.

It was Lucy and Lisanna, of course, who she just remembered then she'd been planning to go out with. And, when they saw that Gaia was sick, they were more than ready to cancel, but Gajeel only grunted and took the snotty mess from his wife.

"Get outta here," he growled as he just turned and walked off. "I like to practice alone anyhow."

And by alone, he meant with his baby. Always. From that point on.

Levy didn't really want to go, but the baby's fever had been down all morning and Lucy and Lisanna had come all that way, after all. After she was gone, Gajeel just went right back to what he was doing, which calmed Gaia right down.

"I don't get them," he told her simply as the baby chewed on some toys and he played his guitar for her. "And why they need to be around one another constantly. Women. Don't make no sense. The only people I need to see is the shrimp, the cat, and you, baby. That's it. But they gotta get together and talk about one another and other people and… She's gonna tell them! I just know it!" Then, as an afterthought, he was quick to say, "Not that I'm embarrassed by you or anything, baby. Not at all. But this isn't exactly how I want others to think I'm spending my time. I-"

"Gajeel?"

He would have jumped, had he been a lesser man. With a frown, he looked over at the doorway and was suddenly reminded that Lily was still very much home. The Exceed just stood there though, staring in at him.

"Are you…speaking with the child?" he asked slowly, coming closer.

"Of course not! I-"

The cat just shook his head. "It is alright. I do it too."

And, to his surprise, Lily came to sit down and listen to him play too.

"You do?" he asked, hardly strumming then. Just enough to satisfy the baby. "Really?"

'Of course," Pantherlily said as the baby waved at him. Returning it, he said, "She is a very good listener. Understanding too."

"Yeah," the slayer mumbled. "She is."

"I have much that I must get out, you know."

"You do?" He didn't know, apparently.

"Of course." Lily coughed and, if only for a second, Gajeel could have sworn that he looked nervous. No way. Not Pantherlily. Not his kitty. "I do not just exist around you, you know. I have my own life traumas as well."

"Traumas, huh?"

"Well, what do you talk to the baby about?"

Mostly how underappreciated his music was.

"Nothing, really," the man said with a slight shrug. "She mostly just listens to my music."

"Yes, well," the Exceed said as he scratched at his head. "It does not sound nearly as bad. On an acoustic. It almost sounds decent."

Gajeel almost didn't accept that, but, well, it was probably the best compliment he was going to be getting any time soon. At least until Gaia could speak better. And by then, who knew? Her tastes might change. He couldn't be too picky.

"I am glad that we have the baby," Gajeel said then, almost softly. If he wasn't playing so halfheartedly, it would have been drowned out. "If only 'cause she's so helpful with my music and stuff."

"Yes, well," Lily said. "Everyone has a purpose."

"Yeah," the man agreed, fighting a grin as he looked over at his daughter. "I guess everyone does."

When Levy got home, she was glad to find that the baby was napping and had eaten a little. She was mostly happy with Gajeel though.

"Thanks for watching her while I was out," she said as she went to give him a kiss. He was sitting at the kitchen table with Lily, drinking a beer, but did let her kiss his cheek.

"She is our baby too," Lily pointed out as Levy went to stroke his ears a little.

"Of course she is," she said. "You guys just got home from a job though. That's all. I figured that you'd wanna rest all day."

Shaking his head, Gajeel said, "The baby needed us, so we were there. And you deserve to go out sometimes. Me and Lily do enough."

"I guess so."

"I'm serious, shrimp," he told her then as she went to go start on dinner. "And…I'm not ashamed, okay? Of the baby or whatever. Or you. Or that…that I love you. So don't act like I am! And I don't wanna talk about it anymore."

Lily just blinked as Levy smiled over at him, if only a little.

Everyone had a purpose, after all. His just so happened to be to look out for his family. And if that meant sparing a few inner thoughts from time to time for the shrimp's sake, so be it.

 


	4. Chapter 4

  


Gajeel was happily napping when something woke him up. And by something, he totally meant someone  _grabbing at his lips and trying to pry his mouth open_.

"Wha' ya doin'?" he slurred sleepily as he opened his eyes to find Gaia on the bed with him, up near his face, tugging at his face. "Baby?"

Bothering him, apparently.

"Gajeel," he heard then from over by the closet where Levy was getting ready for the day. "You're keeping her today, remember? I'm going out on a job."

"I know," he grumbled as he finally had to reached out and, as gently as he could, push her hands away. "Shrimp. But why's she gotta be over here bothering me?"

"Because she loves you."

"Levy-"

"I just sat her down for a minute," the woman defended. "Is it really that big of a deal? You had to get up anyways, you know."

Shifting to sit up then, he just frowned as Gaia took that to mean that she could crawl into his lap.

"Baby," he complained, staring down at her. "I am not fully awake yet. Come back later."

No. The past two months or so, Gajeel hadn't been going on jobs frequently. There weren't any that sparked his interest, he claimed, while Levy and Shadow Gear were taking more and more jobs. The man figured his wife was making up for the time she'd taken off to take care of the baby and, well, it was his turn to fill that obligation.

Which, for the baby, gave her more of a chance to get better acquainted with the man. She was getting older, after all, and the more she grew, the more interest Gajeel formed in her. She was actually able to do things other than just drool on toys and poop her pants.

Levy would say that they had bonded, fully, but he just saw it more as they were stuck together anyhow, so why not form some sort of camaraderie?

"Lily," the baby called loudly then, seated there in her father's lap. "Lily! Lily!"

"Knock it off," the man grumbled, making a face. "He's probably still asleep."

She knew a lot of words then and loved to say all of them. Frequently. But saying Lily's name was her favorite. Right up there with the slurred word she had for hungry. That was because she loved Lily and she loved food.

Which Gajeel had to agree, both were pretty cool.

"I'm going to go bye-bye," Levy told her daughter when she turned back to the bed to look at them. "Okay? I'll be back as soon as possible. Promise."

"Bye-bye," the eighteen month old mimicked, even waving at her. Levy loved hearing her talking and teaching her new words, but Gajeel pretty much hated it.

For one, it was annoying. Her talking was. It was better than her whining, he'd admit, but if he had his way, she'd just be mute. It would work better for all of them.

Whenever he said this to Levy though, she just said that he was jealous that, to that day, the baby had yet to find anything to call him. At all.

Which, for the record, Gajeel was slightly glad about. He wasn't someone's…dad. Or daddy. Or pop. Or father. He just wasn't. So, if the baby didn't call him that, fine. Great. Even better. They were on the same page.

At least that's what he told himself. And told the others. It was a little annoying though. She had a word for everything else. She even had one for shoes. And it was really cute, if he was being honest, but still. She could say that, but not a damn word for her father? Huh?

Levy told him that it was because he never taught her one.

"You know," his wife would say whenever they talked about it (more like she talked and he prayed for it all to just end). "Like how I taught her to call me Mama. You have to show her. Repeat it to her. And-"

"Yeah, I don't care that much."

"Yes, you do, Gajeel. It's pretty clear."

"Yeah, no."

"Right," Levy said. "Just like you totally didn't want to teach her to walk. Or never liked playing your guitar for her. Or-"

"I don't care, alright?"

Then Levy would pat him on the shoulder in a way that he was certain she thought was comforting, but he only saw as condescending.

And yeah, okay, maybe somewhere, deep, deep down, Gajeel would like it if the baby called him something. Anything, really. It didn't matter. But if she didn't, fine. She was just a silly little baby. What difference did it make to him?

When Levy left that day, it was with the instruction to Gajee that yes, he was going to take her over to play with Lucy and Natsu's son that day, no matter what. She needed socialization.

"Bah," he grumbled to the baby as they sat on the floor after Levy was gone. "Who the heck needs that? And even if ya did, you get enough of it from me, don't ya?"

"Lily."

"Yeah, yeah, he's around here somewhere." Gajeel just sat there though, glaring down at the little girl as she pushed her toys around, hardly paying him any mind. "Which is another person you socialize with, you know. I don't see why you gotta have your brain numbed by Dragneel's brat. What good'll that do you? I mean, yeah, the shrimp and Lucy are friends, but hey, why put you at risk?"

Gajeel wasn't even sure if Gaia liked playing with the other kid. She seemed to enough, but how could they really know, huh? Maybe she hated it. She probably did. And he shouldn't make her so something if she overwhelmingly hates it.

Especially if he hates it just as much, if not more than she does.

When Lily finally woke up, Gajeel thought about passing the job off on him. He had no doubt that the Exceed would do it for him. He rather liked Natsu and Lucy as it was and wouldn't mind taking the baby over there to play. Or at least he wouldn't hate it as much as Gajeel.

But, he had made a promise to the shrimp. And, well, it was hard to go back on those.

"You mean he's not here?" Gajeel asked later that day when he made the trudge over to Lucy's place, taking the baby with him. 'The Salamander?"

"Nope," she said. "Why? Did you want him to be?"

"Of course not," he grumbled as the woman just let them in. Gaia, as shocking as it was to him, was really excited to play with the other child for whatever reason and, well, seeing her happy sorta made it worth it. Kind of.

So it was easy to get her all set up there, all happy and stuff, before making his leave. He called out to Lucy that he'd be back later to get her and that was that.

Until, just as he was approaching the front door, it opened.

"Ha! I told ya I smelled him, Hap."

"Aye, sir."

Gajeel growled too, at the sight of the Salamander. He was grinning all wide and stuff, as if he'd cracked some sort of code or something. He was just that annoying.

"What'd you come for then?" Natsu was pumping up already. "A fight? Huh? You come looking for me? Great! I-"

"Natsu." Lucy poked her head out of the other room. "Gajeel was just leaving. He just came to drop off-"

"Yeah, but now that he's here," the pink haired man reasoned, "we can duke it out."

"Not in the house you can't," was all Lucy grumbled, leaving it at that.

Natsu just kept on grinning. "So? You wanna, Gajeel?"

"No, flame breath," he growled. "I don't. So get outta my way. I got shit to do."

"Na-ah," Natsu said, shutting the door behind him as Happy flew to safety, out of the way of the two slayers. "You came into my house. That means that if you want out, you gotta fight your way out."

"No, Natsu," they heard Lucy call out. "It most definitely doesn't mean that."

"You heard her," Gajeel grumbled. "You-"

"Oh, so what then? You're chickening out?"

Okay. He was asking for it then. Gajeel tries to be nice, just once, and what does it get him? Huh? Ridiculed? No way. No effing way.

But just as the man was bucking up to go knock the fire right out of the Salamander, they were joined in the hallway.

"You're home."

It was the stupid man's stupider son. Snorting, Gajeel turned up his nose as the cat came back too, flying over to Natsu as the man just reached down to pat his son on the head.

"Hey, Egan." He rubbed at the kid's head hard too, making the child giggle loudly. "I'm a little busy, see? I gotta beat Gajeel over here and send 'im packin'."

The little boy just stared up at his father. "Can't play?"

"Of course I can play!" And then Natsu wasn't even paying any mind to Gajeel. "Anything you want. It's what I'm here for. And before you say it, Lucy, it's not all I'm here for!"

"I didn't anything."

"I know how you work."

Gajeel just narrowed his eyes then. "Not that this isn't entertaining to me, but can I leave now? Or what?"

"Eh?" Natsu looked up at him then as Happy just came to land on his head. "What are you even doing here again?"

But as Gajeel was getting ready for some sort of snark filled reply, Natsu's son got tired of waiting. Reaching out, he grabbed his father's hand before pulling him off.

"Come on," the boy giggled as his father just let himself be dragged along by the three year old. "Daddy."

And then Gajeel was free to leave, so, of course, he did. The shrimp never said nothin' about sticking around, after all.

He didn't know why though, but he felt kinda…off all day. As if something was bothering him. He even met up with Pantherlily eventually and got some intense training done which almost always took his mind off things. It did, too. Mostly, anyhow. Still, there was just something tugging at the back of his mind and he couldn't shake it.

"Did something happen today?" Lily asked when he mentioned it to him.

"Nothin'," he grumbled. "That's the problem."

He couldn't figure it out either. No matter how much thought he put into it and then, later, how little. It wasn't until he went to pick up Gaia a few hours later that he realized it.

Natsu was playing outside with the kids when he got there. Gaia was busy chasing Happy around, no doubt using him as a stand in for Lily who she liked to do the same thing to at home, while Natsu and his son were playing with some action figures in the grass.

Lily, who'd come with him, snickered at Happy, who got tackled by Gaia when she tripped and fell, giving her a comfortable landing.

"Ouch," he complained. "Natsu, the baby fell on me!"

"That's great, buddy," the man said, distracted as he made actions figures circle around his son's head, making the boy giggle.

'It's not great," he grumbled as Lily went to help Gaia up, Happy be damned. "It's horrible."

'Aw, Happy," Gajeel heard then and noticed for the first time that Lucy was sitting up on the porch steps, watching them from the shade of the house. "Did the little baby hurt you?"

"No! I didn't say that."

"That's exactly what you said," Lily told him.

"It is not. Natsu-"

"What, Happy?" He finally glanced over at him. "Is Lucy being mean to you again?"

"Aw, now you need him to protect you too?" Lucy was unrelenting that day, Happy felt. When the cat took to glaring at her, she just sighed. "Come here."

"The baby just fell on me and it was really sudden," the Exceed complained as he came to rest on her head.

"I know."

"And I couldn't, like, defend myself. She's a baby."

"Mmmhmm."

"That was all. I wasn't hurt or nothing."

"Of course not."

Gajeel just stood there though, on the sidewalk, glaring at all of them.

"Get the baby, Lily," he grumbled. "And-"

"Ah! Gajeel!" Natsu took notice of him for the first time. He'd been that into playing, apparently. Annoying. "Don't try to get in on this. There are not enough action figures for you. Sorry."

Narrowing his eyes then, Gajeel remarked, "Yeah, right, Salamander. Like I came here just to play with you."

"How am I supposed to know what you came here for? Huh? I-"

"Daddy!" Egan was not up for being ignored. "Play."

"I am," Natsu grumbled, going back to the action figures then. "I was protecting our toys from the likes of Gajeel."

"I don't want your stupid toys! All I want is my kid. Lily-"

"Coming." He was walking over then with Gaia holding one of his paws in her hand. Lucy just glanced over to her son.

"You better tell Gaia by, Egan," she said as the boy bashed one of the action figures into Natsu's leg.

"Bye-bye." He hardly glanced up, but did give out a slight wave. Gaia was more concerned with Pantherlily then and didn't even mimic the words back like she usually would.

It was as they were heading back home that it hit Gajeel, that he finally understood what the feeling was.

And no. It wasn't jealousy. Not really. He didn't…want to be like Natsu. Didn't want to have to play with his kid constantly or, worse, actually enjoy it. But…he just…well… The stupid brat just seemed to like him so much. Enough so that he came all the way to the front door to greet him earlier. And with everyone gathered around, never once did he even look away from the man. All he wanted was his father's attention.

That bothered him, for some reason. The obvious one was, of course, the fact that the Salamander had reproduced which should worry the entire world, but at that point, it was too late to fix it. No, as much as he hated it, Gajeel was a little…annoyed that the other slayer had such a great relationship with his kid when, honestly, his daughter just thought of him as a stereo. A nice stereo, that made her made her food and changed her diaper, but that was about it.

It irked him to no end. Fine. He would admit it. The Salamander was pretty awesome. He was damn awesome. But he was no better than him, had no better bringing up than he did.

So why was he able to connect to his kid so easily?

And why did his son seem to just love to say his name? Huh?

"You know, Gaia," the man grumbled to her that night as they sat on his bed. He had his acoustic out and was strumming on it to put her to sleep, planning on taking her to her crib when she drifted off. "You could just call me something. I'm not picky or nothing. And I don't care. But I'm a way better dad than the Salamander. Aren't I?"

The baby didn't seem to care much for his speech as she just laid there on the bed, sucking on one of her pacifiers while watching him. He liked to talk a lot. So long as he was playing music though, she didn't mind.

"I mean, sure, I'm not personable, but I'm strong," he went on. "I keep a way better eye on you than he does his loser brat. And I didn't hand down a stupid hair color to you either."

She opened her mouth then, her pacifier falling out of her mouth. The baby was too sleepy to pick it up though and whined.

"You're so lazy," he complained, stopping his strumming just to reach over and pick it up for her. "There."

It didn't take her long to fall asleep after that. And, done with playing his guitar, he got up to put it away before coming back for her.

She looked so comfortable though and, with a sigh, he moved to lay down and rest for a bit. He'd get around to putting her to bed eventually. At the moment, he just wanted to lay there for a minute or two.

He was a good dad. He just was. Way better than Natsu. And it wasn't fair for Natsu's kid to love him more than Gajeel's did him. It just wasn't.

"Now what do you want?" he grumbled as, once more, Gaia's pacifier fell out of her mouth. That was because she was crying though. "You're still right here. With me. So knock it off."

Rolling onto his side, he stared down at her in the darkness, bowing his head so that it was in front of hers.

"I'm talkin' to you," he said simply. "Baby."

And it took a minute. But, when those seconds were up, so were the baby's cries as they tapered off.

"There. See?" He grinned then. "You- Hey!"

She just reached up then to pat at his face, making noises at him.

Bowing his head even further, he gently nuzzled his forehead against hers.

"You can stay a little longer," he sighed, moving to lay on his back again. "Baby. But no more whining. I don't like it."

But she started up again and, not wanting to move that time, Gajeel just reached a hand out and held it over her face. The baby moved to hold one of his fingers tightly, her complaints done.

"What are you? Scared of the dark?" Or sleeping in bed with him? Couldn't be the last one. She seemed satisfied with him being close, almost like it had a calming affect. "Or did you just miss me today? Is that it?"

Probably not. But being wanted was nice regardless. And, when the baby finally did fall asleep again, that time he got up immediately to put her in her own room.

"There," he whispered after he had her all settled in her crib. All better.

So maybe he'd never be the Salamander (thankfully) and maybe Gaia didn't like playing with him (which was just as well, considering he would rather push that off on Lily for, oh, ever), at least she knew that he was there to drive the darkness away. Always.

 


	5. Chapter 5

  


In the next couple of weeks, Gajeel found that if there was one thing that Gaia was learning to love more and more, it was coloring.

On everything.

She really just seemed to like scribbling on paper for some reason, which bored him to tears. It was almost as bad as when he had to watch her stack blocks atop one another and pretend like that was some sort of accomplishment. The only good thing about her coloring though was that it kept her entertained with minimal surveillance.

The downside of it?

"Don't complain. You're not allowed to. After all, it's your fault. You're supposed to watch her."

"I can't watch her twenty-four seven," the slayer would growl at his wife as they scrubbed at the walls, attempting in vain to get the new scribbles it then sported off. "I have other things to do, you know."

"Oh? Other than keep our baby safe?"

"She was safe! The walls just weren't."

"Gajeel."

So that wasn't great. One thing he did like more about the baby was that she was getting to the point where, when it was time to fix her something to eat, he could just make him and Lily whatever they wanted and rip her off a piece of whatever it was. She was fine with practically whatever. And he was more than fine with just feeding it to her.

Her vocabulary was expanding too. She was able, finally, to kinda make sentences. Which he didn't hold against her. After all, he didn't have the best grasp on the language either.

"Lily," she said a lot. It was one of her favorite words. Mainly because the Exceed was her favorite person. "Love Lily."

She liked to hug and pet him a lot too, which the cat attempted to pretend to take on with disdain, but it was rather obvious that he enjoyed it. Levy and Gajeel never seemed to spare him much attention anymore and, well, it was nice to finally have someone to appreciate just how great he was.

Gajeel wanted that too. From the baby. Not that he'd ever say it, of course, but he really did. Everyone else got that treatment. She liked to hug Levy or give her little things, like her toys or some of her animal crackers. Then, ugh, the way she was with the other guild members was annoying. Trying to say their names or just walking up to them, like they were just okay people and she should be allowed to associate with them. They weren't and she wasn't.

So there.

Not to mention, the kid still didn't have a name for him. Not that he blamed her. He'd started taking jobs again, giving Levy some time with the baby once more, but the second they switched off the next time, he figured he'd get to work on teaching the baby exactly who he was.

He started with explain who she was.

"See," he said one day as he laid on his back on her bedroom floor, staring up at the ceiling. Gaia was sitting by his head, coloring away, babbling occasionally when the time called for it. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I ain't much of an intellectual. That's how come I don't read to you much. And, well, 'cause I just don't want to! So when you learn to ask, don't.

"I did, though, one time look some stuff up for you. In case you ask or whatever. About your name. Or, well, I was just curious. Your mom picked it and, I figured at first that it was just some form of my name or something cool like that, but apparently not. It's, like, some sort of goddess thing, right? One that represents earth or something stupid like that. I mean, I'm just not into those kinda things, I'm sure you've guessed."

"Lily."

"He's not here! Now be quiet and listen. I'm telling you something, baby."

"Awawa."

"No! If you drool on me, this is so over and you're going to be forced to take a nap early. Your choice, baby."

After they got that all sorted out again, Gajeel went back to his story.

"So anyhow," the man said as he laid with his arms crossed over his chest, still looking up at the ceiling. "Gaia is a goddess that embodies the earth or something. She's, like, the mother of all the important ones. And she don't have a mother or nothing like that. She was born from Chaos. Or, I guess, outta Chaos, as that one disappeared. Which is kinda my whole point here."

Closing his eyes then, he let out a slow breath before saying slowly, "If you think that I'm mean now, Gaia, that I'm bad the way I am these days, you shouldda seen me before. Or, no. Actually, I'm glad that you haven't. Really glad. I don't even want you to know about that stuff. I don't wnat you to even know anyone like that. You shouldn't. I was…horrible.

"But that's the point, baby. I used to be so bad, yeah? I used to be horrible. I was living off anger and resentment and hate and…and chaos. So now I don't have that. I have you. And that's what it means, right? What Levy meant? Because she's smart like that. And you're- What are you doing?"

She'd left her crayons behind to come sit next to him, leaning over the man to stare down at him. He just stared back, not sure what to do.

Reaching down with a giggle, she patted his head before leaning down to press a kiss to her head. He'd never gotten that before. It was mostly poor Lily that got the brunt of her new phase in which she in. For some reason, getting his fur all covered in her spit (she had yet to learn that kissing didn't just mean slobbering all over someone), seemed to be the best way she could convey her love.

Which was odd, considering she could literally say the word love, but hey. She couldn't figure everything out by herself, could she?

"Knock it off," Gajeel complained as the baby just kept giving him kisses. "This isn't what I wanted. Gaia-"

She just complained right back at him, having to use his head to push herself back up before going back over to her crayons. There. Maybe that would get him to shut up.

Did he not know she was trying to color?

Growling, Gajeel jumped up before wiping at his face with the bottom of his shirt. "Thanks a lot, baby."

She made some noises back to him, but he was storming off to wash his face. Blood? Fine. Guts? Alright. But baby spit? No freaking way.

* * *

"Let's see," Levy sighed one day as she looked over the bookcase in the living room. Running her finger over the spines of the books, it only took her a moment to find the right one and pull it out. "Here you we are. We'll read a little bit from this, okay?"

That was fine with the other three people in the room, who included, of course, Lily, Gajeel, and Gaia. The Exceed was already curled up on the couch, mostly dozing off already, while Gajeel sat next to him, Gaia in his lap as the toddler focused touching all of his different piercings. They were intriguing to her, in that moment, it seemed.

"Shrimp, I don't care what you read," Gajeel grumbled as she came to sit on his other side, smiling slightly. "Just make sure that it gets her asleep and soon. She's starting to get on my nerves."

"She just loves you, Gajeel."

No. At the moment she just wanted to figure out what those weird things were stuck on the side of his nose.

"This isn't love. This is torture," he complained as she poked at his face.

"Awe."

Lily peeked an eye open. "I was promised a story."

"You're getting one," Levy said as Gaia took instead to trying to poke at Gajeel's eyes, which he put an immediate stop to. "And sit, Gaia. Listen to the story, huh?"

She didn't want to, but apparently she didn't have much of a choice. Gajeel was forcing her to do so.

But the story was so boring. Not even the sleepy kind of boring that Lily was feeling. More like the blow your head off kind of boring Gajeel was suffering from. Eventually, Levy let him take her off to finish getting her ready for bed, which mostly just meant changing her diaper one more time and, after laying her down in her crib, playing her a few songs.

She didn't seem to want to go down that night though. Even though he kept making her lay down, she'd just get right back up and stand there in her crib, staring at him. And, since he knew that she'd learned to climb out, he knew if he left her like that, she'd just escape and come find him.

"What do you want, baby?" he complained, taking her out of the crib after awhile and just sitting her on the floor. Taking a seat next to her, he just watched for a moment as she patted at his guitar. "Huh?"

"Song." She patted at the guitar with a giggle. "Yes?"

"I've played you a song," he told her with a frown. "A lotta songs. Levy read you a story. A really crummy one. You silly baby. Just go to sleep!"

She made a yelling noise right back at him, thinking it was a game. Then, tapping at the acoustic again, she said, "Song."

"One more," he grumbled. "Then you're gonna go to sleep. I mean it, Gaia."

But she didn't just want one more. She wanted a thousand more. Sleep was stupid. It was horrible. It kept her from having fun. And listening to great music.

When he finished that next song, Gajeel was serious about only singing one. But…she kept asking him and what was he supposed to do? Tell her no? How could he ever tell her no? Huh?

"Do you still honestly not even have her in the crib? Seriously, Gajeel?"

He just frowned up at Levy as she came into the room to pick the baby up. "I was trying, alright? But she's not tired and-"

"Is that what I asked you to do, Gajeel? To see if she was tired? No. I said to put her to bed."

"No," Gaia complained as he stood too, setting his guitar off to the side. "No!"

"Yes," her mother said, brushing a kiss against her head. "You've been up for far too long thanks to Daddy."

"No!" She stared over the woman's shoulder at Gajeel who was pretty annoyed that the shrimp was upsetting the baby. Reaching a hand out to him, she said again, "Song."

"I don't get why you gotta ruin this, Levy," Gajeel grumbled with a frown. "I mean-"

"You were the one that wanted to go down to the hall tonight anyhow, Gajeel. So now you can go. Why are you being difficult?"

He did want to go down to the hall. A lot. And it would close soon if he didn't hurry, but…

"I just don't get why she can't-"

"Because, Gajeel, it's time for bed. That means that she goes to bed." Levy kissed the toddler's head again before moving to drop the child gently in her crib. "Tell Daddy goodnight."

She just reached out for him, standing there. "Out!"

"Nope." Levy wasn't playing. She made the baby lay down and, with a kiss, told her goodnight before going to grab Gajeel's hand and drag him out of the room with her. "Come on."

He really didn't want to, but hey. The baby did need to sleep. And he did wanna go get a drink down at the bar, so…

Leaving the cat and the shrimp at home with the baby, he headed out to go spent some time up at the bar. Not that there was anyone there that he really wanted to see, but it gave him something to do, at least.

When he got back, he found that the cat was still napping on the couch and the house was dark. Levy must have been in bed. With a shake of his head, he headed down the hall to follow.

It was when he was passing Gaia's room though that he heard it. She wasn't crying, but she was making noise in there, clearly having woken back up at some point. Possibly from him opening and closing the front door.

"Hey," he grumbled, going to poke his head in there. "What are you doing in here, baby?"

She giggled too, at the sight of him, which wasn't a response he was used to getting. Not from anyone else, anyhow.

"Are you just restless today or somethin'?" He came to stand at the side of her crib, looking in at the child with a heavy frown. "Me too. Thought drinkin' and being around those idiots up at the guild would help, but it hasn't. Think I need to take a job or somethin'."

She was just sitting there then, apparently enjoying making noises. At the sight of him next to her though, she just tilted her head back to stare at the man, one hand coming up so she could suck on her fingers.

"That's nasty," he grumbled, though he still reached down to pat her on the head. "Baby."

Opening her mouth wide then, she showed him her teeth. When he followed suit with a yawn, she giggled before reaching for him.

"Out."

"Levy said you gotta stay in there, baby," he told her with a shake of her head. "Sorry."

"No. Out." Reaching up for him, she tried her best trick she had on Lily and Levy both, hoping it would work on her father too. "Love you."

That was a new one for him. Gajeel just blinked before slowly reaching in there to take her out.

"Yeah, kid," he said as she giggled, glad o find that she had gotten exactly what she wanted. "I, uh, I… You're… So there."

She just kissed his cheek in thanks. "Song?"

"Well, the shrimp is... You really should just go to bed."

Which he knew was right. And, with a sgih, he moved to drop her back in her crib. Not liking this, she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, refusing to let go.

"Gaia-"

"Love you." Well, it worked once. She was actually getting pretty good at that sentence. "Song?"

"No. You-"

"Daddy?"

"Hey, now I ain't stupid. What kinda game is this?"

There wasn't one. Really. Levy had been practicing that one with her for months. And, secretly, a few times Gajeel found himself repeating the word softly to her, as not to be overheard. It was just getting a tad ridiculous, really, that he didn't have a name like the others.

Not to mention, the way she said it was rather slurred and, if he hadn't been listening to her talk for, oh, the past twenty months, he would have had no idea what she said and taken it for all her other drivel. He could tell though exactly what it was and, honestly, was suspicious.

"I mean, you don't even like me that much. Do you?"

Of course she did. Sorta. He let her do a lot of things that Levy didn't and, when he was around, so was Lily usually. Not to mention all his stellar songs. Yeah, he was pretty great.

"Oh. It's you. I thought I heard talking."

Glancing over at the doorway, he saw Levy standing there and said simply, "The baby can't sleep."

With a yawn, she came further. "She can't sleep or you woke her up?"

"The first one."

"Poor Gaia." Coming closer, Levy went to take her from her father. She yawned again before saying, "I don't know how you're not tired."

"You can go back to bed," Gajeel grumbled slightly, more annoyed that she was ruining the moment than actually concerned for her. "Shrimp. I got her."

"No, I-"

"I hope you both know what time it is."

Levy blinked then as Gajeel only rolled his eyes.

"You know, cat, it's actually our house," he grumbled, glancing over at the disapproving Pantherlily, "so I think that it doesn't really matter."

"I must get my sleep, Gajeel, else what use am I to anyone?"

"I ask myself that every day."

"Play nice," Levy said through another yawn as she glanced down at Gaia. "And here, Gajeel, if you can get her back down, that's fine, I guess. But I really just wanna go back to bed."

She kissed him too, the shrimp did, before walking out of the room, patting Lily on the head as she went. Then it was just them and the still overly alert Gaia.

They sat her down on the ground and Gajeel went to go get his guitar, figuring she'd have to give out eventually.

"You know," he told the cat as he sat there, strumming softly as Gaia leaned against Pantherlily, listening, "the child can say my name now."

"She can say Gajeel?"

"No," he grumbled, frowning then. "Of course not."

"Then what does she call you?"

"Cat-"

"I am just curious," Lily defended. With a frown, Gajeel looked off before mumbling something.

"What was that?" the cat asked. "Speak up. I-"

"I said that she called me…Daddy."

"Aw."

"Shut up, Lily."

"What?" He snickered. "It's cute."

"I hate you."

"You are the one that brought it up."

Watching as the baby let out a slight yawn and snuggled closer to the Exceed, Gajeel paused before saying, "She said that she loved me too."

"Very cute."

"Shut up."

"Why are you telling me then? Huh? If you're not-"

"I dunno," he mumbled, shrugging slightly. "I just thought that someone should know. Not the shrimp though. She'd be all-"

"Yeah," the Exceed sighed. "I know."

"Gihi." The man grinned. "The woman just has something about her. She never knows when to knock it off."

"Oh? And you do?"

"I'm different. You have to put up with me," he said, stopping his playing then so that he could flex. "Less you got the courage to come after me."

"Courage? Or stupidity?"

"Ask the damn Salamander."

"Well, that's not fair. Everything he does is stupid."

"Not everything," Gajeel admitted, which was actually more shocking that his apparent joy over the baby's own admission or at least verbalization. "Just mostly."

It took a couple of songs and, before they were over, Lily left, but Gajeel did get Gaia to sleep finally. And, when he got up to drop her off in her crib, he paused for a moment, watching her settle, before gently brushing some of her hair back out of her face.

"I love you too, kid." Then, grinning, he said, "But I gotta go now. You've kept me up long enough, huh? So don't be whining in the morning for me to wake up and play with you. After all this, you owe me at least until noon. At least. And maybe we can work some more on what you should call me. Gotta be something better than what you did."

Though it sure didn't feel like it.

And when he went to join Levy in bed, he had an odd feeling in his chest. About the same one he got when the shrimp got home from a real tough job, victorious or when Lily was able to beat a real gnarly looking foe. When he was proud of them.

Was he proud of Gaia then? For something as simple as just speaking? And not even clearly?

Yeah. He was. He really was. He'd spent so long just coming around to the idea of her and, finally, he was so glad that she just saw how much she liked him too. How much she loved him. How important he was to her. It had taken baby steps for both of them to reach that point, but they were there. And still going.

He wasn't in a rush, either, to get wherever it was all leading him. After all, he was having a pretty great time just on the journey.

 


End file.
